FIRST ON FOX: Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is raising alarm about the impact of the Biden administration’s “open borders policy” on airport security – claiming that weaknesses in screening could jeopardize safety.
“DHS, particularly TSA, must explain how it is responding to the serious impacts that the administration’s open borders policies are having on airport security and the safety of Americans,” Cruz, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, said in a letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Cruz has questioned various agencies and airports about the impact of migration on airport security, including the housing of migrants at several major U.S. airports.
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Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 in Washington, DC (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
In this letter to Mayorkas, Cruz highlighted three points in which he believes “the administration’s open borders policy weakens airport security…”
He first referred to the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan parole (CHNV) program, which allows up to 30,000 migrants from these countries to enter the United States for humanitarian reasons. The program was recently suspended due to large-scale fraud in sponsorship applications.
He also pointed to data showing that nearly 96% of those who applied through the CBP One app – which is used for both CHNV and parolees at the border – were approved for an appointment.
The Republican senator also pointed to a recent DHS OIG report that criticized parts of the app and its use of data, and found that the app could not access all biometric data.
“As these unscreened aliens fly into the country, TSA has deployed a significant number of air marshals – who are supposed to protect the planes in the sky – to assist CBP with administrative tasks at the southern border. This is a concern I raised with TSA last October,” he said.
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He also reiterated his previous concerns about the detention of migrants at airports in Chicago, Boston and New York since mid-2023. Separately, he raised concerns about the release of migrants brought to the U.S. by an ISIS-linked group. Earlier this year, eight people with suspected ISIS ties were arrested across the country.
“Airports remain an attractive target for anyone who wants to harm this country and its citizens,” he said.
Cruz is requesting all documents related to airport security for illegal immigrants, the detention, screening or control of migrants, and fraud cases in parole programs.
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He is also seeking documents related to the accommodation of migrants at several airports, the number of migrants flown into airports and the measures taken to remove illegal immigrants from airports.
The letter comes amid ongoing debate over the ongoing border crisis. The Biden administration has said it needs more funding and reforms, arguing that expanded legal pathways have been successful in reducing the number of refugees at the border.
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Republicans claim the crisis was fueled by Biden-era policies and the rollback of Trump-era measures.
